He did little to quell reports that he is melting down over Harrisās poll numbers.
Amidst reports that he hasĀ becomeĀ ungluedby having to compete withĀ Kamala Harris for the presidency,Ā Donald TrumpĀ held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday. And if the goal was to reassure people that (1) he is not at all freaked out by the vice presidentāsĀ rising poll numbersĀ and (2) he is the best candidate for the White House, he was not exactly successful!
Trump repeatedly insulted Harrisās intelligence, calling her ābarely competent,ā saying that she ācanāt do a news conferenceā because āsheās not smart enough,ā and claiming that sheās ānot as smartā asĀ Joe Biden. (As a reminder, TrumpĀ thinksĀ there were airports during the Revolutionary War and that itāsĀ safe to inject bleachĀ into the body; heās also beenĀ describedĀ as an idiot by numerous people who worked for him.)
And the press loves it.
Obviously.
All the major networks covered this live. None of them covered the Harris rally that happened right after. Some did fact checking afterward. Thatās after most people stop watching.
The reporters often asked useless softball questions, like asking him to comment about his upcoming interview with Musk.
When there was a serious question, he simply didnāt answer. There was one about abortion and he said he would answer later. There was one about whether an an abortion drug should be banned. He gave a rambling response that seemed to be about something else.
Compare this to a typical Biden press conference where the reporters are rude and yell out questions and push back and tell Biden that he isnāt answering the question.
The press is afraid of Trump and complicit with his criminal behavior and complicit in the ignorance of the voters.
Well yeah, it generates engagement which they can then show their advertisers.